On Our Radar

On Our Radar

Shares of Tiffany & Co. surged 2.4% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the high-end jewelry retailer reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that surprisingly that surprisingly rose above expectations. Earnings for the quarter to Oct. 31 increased to $95.1 million, or 76 cents a share, from $91.0 million, or 70 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was a decline to 67 cents. Revenue grew to $949.3 million from $938.2 million, compared with the FactSet consensus for a decline to $923.8 million. Same-store sales fell 2%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 4.1% drop, as a 20% jump in Japan same-store sales was well above expectations of a 4.3% fall. Net sales in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Japan beat the FactSet consensus while Europe sales fell below. The company affirmed its fiscal 2016 outlook for sales and adjusted EPS. "We are encouraged by some early signs of improvement in sales trends, but we clearly need more positive data over time before this can be considered an inflection point," said Chief Executive Frederic Cumenal. The stock has gained 2.4% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has climbed 6.5% and the S&P 500 has rallied 7.7%.